Seniors Too Powerful, Say Critics of At-Large City Council Elections : Government: Two longtime residents want city to create four council districts. One councilman thinks it’s a good idea.

How small is Cudahy? You could walk across the city and still not get enough exercise. It has no movie theater, no department store--not even a parking meter. The tallest building is three stories high. And what passes for a civic center is a small building shared by senior citizens, the Sheriff’s Department, a food distribution program for the poor and the local chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Yet, for some residents the town is still too big, especially when it comes to fair political representation. They want to divide this 1.07-square-mile city into four voting districts.

In petition notices filed last week in City Hall, longtime residents Lawrence Galvan and Charles Sousa argued that parts of Cudahy have been underrepresented because four of the five council members live “within a very short distance” of one another.

“Everyone in Cudahy lives within a short distance of one another,” an irritated Mayor Joseph Fregeau retorted. “This is asinine. You drive 60 miles an hour, you are in and out of Cudahy in one minute. You drive 30 miles an hour, it takes you two. I mean, what do you want?”

Galvan and Sousa propose the creation of four districts with about 5,600 people each. The mayor would be elected by all residents of the city. Council candidates would be chosen by residents of the district in which they are running and they must live in that district. All five council members would serve four-year terms. Elections in Cudahy have traditionally been held citywide once every two years.

The pair, together with their supporters, argue that while Cudahy may be a small town, there are almost 23,000 people living here and most have been ignored by the current council. District elections would make the council more accountable to residents, Sousa said.

District election supporters point out that four of the five council members are senior citizens and members of the city’s senior citizens club. And though only about 5% of the residents are 60 and older in Cudahy, seniors get preferential treatment, council critics claim. They point out that senior citizens were exempted from a recent tax passed by the council, and will be beneficiaries of a planned expansion of the Leo P. Turner center, the city building used by the senior club.

“There is a senior citizens group running the city for senior citizens, and to hell with everyone else,” said Councilman John Robertson, the only council member who has endorsed the plan and who is not a senior citizen.

Robertson also pointed out that four of the five council members, including himself, live west of Atlantic Avenue and north of Clara Street, as do most of city’s homeowners, longtime residents and registered voters. The picture changes east of Atlantic, he says.

“My problems are far different than those who live across Atlantic,” he said. “That’s where the problems are. The more disadvantaged people live there, the poorer people who have different problems and they are being ignored. . . . A lot of people there are not being represented and will never be represented unless we create districts and put someone on the council who is from that area.”

Councilman Joseph Graffio, the only council member who lives east of Atlantic avenue, labels the argument, “a bunch of hooey.”

“People laugh when I tell them about dividing the city into four parts,” Graffio said. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I think the opposition is just trying to get control of the city any way they can.”

Galvan, however, denied that he or Sousa had any political motives.

“I don’t know what their gripe is,” he said, referring to the majority of the council. “They are just afraid of losing. There is no valid reason for them to criticize this.”

Assistant City Manager Nick Mull said the city attorney must review the petition before Galvan and Sousa can begin circulating it. In order for the special election to be called, Galvan and Sousa must gather the signatures of about 300 registered voters, or 15% of the city’s total.